What is New in Printed Circuit Board Making?

Published on June 7, 2021 , Last modified on July 24, 2024
by Hommer Zhao
Printed Circuit Board Making

There was something new in Printed Circuit Board Making; if you were a hobbyist and wanted to make a quick one-off PCB at home, you could make some new things. 

3D PCB Printers

PCB Making.png

If you want to make a quick one-off PCB at home, there are several steps that you must follow. After preparing the PCB design, you then print out the separate 2D PCB layouts using a paper printer in PCB Making and then go through the whole ironing and etching process to get your board ready with all the required copper traces. This practice is slowly going to disappear.

The well-known Mechatronics 3D Printing technology is slowly establishing its roots in PCB technology. This is what shall truly be Rapid PCB Prototyping. 3D PCB Printing not only makes the PCB, but it also does the Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA). This reduces what was a week’s or day’s exercise into about a one-hour job. The only downside of these machines is that they are currently too expensive and most hobbyists will not afford them.

Flexible Printed Circuit Board Making and Wearable Technology

Flexible Printed Circuit Board Making

There has been an increase in the need to bring electronics closer and closer to our bodies. This is mainly due to health reasons. It is becoming more important to monitor human health now and then rather than wait for a normal doctor’s checkup or waiting until you feel sick. Flexible PCB (FPCB) has come in handy to leverage wearable technology. The use of traditional rigid PCB making in wearable technology is getting minimized day after day. The copper tracks are now being built up, and they are being made thinner and thinner. This makes wearables more comfortable to put on and more efficient in operation, especially where the wearable sensors’ data is transmitted wirelessly.

The well-known Mechatronics 3D Printing technology is slowly establishing its roots in PCB technology. This is what shall truly be Rapid PCB Prototyping. 3D PCB Printing makes the PCB and does the Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA). This reduces what was a week’s or day’s exercise into about a one-hour job. The only downside of these machines is that they are currently too expensive not to afford most hobbyists.

Printed Circuit Board Making– High-Density Interconnects PCBs (HDI PCBs)

HDI PCBs

There is an obvious need for miniaturization. Whether you want to make a board for a wearable application, a new computer board, or just an Internet of Things (IoT) device, electronic components must be tiny to occupy the smallest space with superior performance in PCB Making. Conventional PCB routing methods cannot achieve this. With HDI technology, PCB components can be packed very close to each other and function even better. With microvias, which are about 140um, components can be densely packed to as close as 100um. This is achieved without compromising the quality of the electrical signals involved.

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Hommer Zhao
Hi, I'm Hommer Zhao, the founder and Chief Editor at WellPCB. With extensive experience in the PCB industry, I oversee all content to ensure it meets the highest standards of accuracy and insight. We proudly serve over 4,000 customers globally. For inquiries or more information, don't hesitate to reach out. Your satisfaction is my top priority!